Do we start looking at properties now? Deposit not in place until mid October

Arthur_Sleep

We are FTBs. A large part of our deposit is in an account that doesn't mature until the middle of October, so we can't access it until then. We assume we can't complete any earlier than then, and on that basis we initially thought we probably wouldn't begin viewings (and potentially submitting offers) until July at the earliest.

The thing is, we've been keeping a close eye on the market in the area we are moving to for a little while now and there are a few properties that really interest us and are well within our budget. We're very keen to make progress and I'm wondering, given how long things can take between offer and completion, whether we shouldn't just get going with viewings straight away and put offers in where appropriate.

So it's a bit of newbie question, really - should we wait until we're within a few months of our earliest completion date or should we just get cracking now?

pinkteapot

You actually need to pay the deposit at exchange of contracts, not completion. This is usually a couple of weeks before completion, but the time between them can be any length of time, agreed by both sides.

About the shortest time from offer to exchange of contracts is a month. However, both times I've bought it's been more like 2-3 months, because the seller has dragged things out. There's loads of to-ing and fro-ing, you'll have mortgage application paperwork to complete, various forms from your solicitor to fill in and return, etc. It can easily be strung out for a while.

Now may be a little early for some properties, depending on the position of the seller. If someone is waiting to get a buyer before doing any viewings themselves, it may take them a few weeks to find a property. If you're at the bottom of a long chain, it could take a while for the chain to be complete and for everything to get moving. If however you find a "no onward chain" property, the sellers will probably want to get to exchange sooner than October.

Your original date of July sounds about right to me to be honest...

pops5588

It's a toughie because me and OH thought that we would be house hunting for aaaages so didn't even have a solicitor organised. However the 6th house we viewed ended up being the one, and if you don't have the deposit sorted I'm pretty sure you can't get beyond an AIP.

I think it's worth taking a look to get an idea of what is out there at the moment and what your money will get you, but if the money isn't there at the moment and a vendor isn't prepared to wait then you may have to be prepared to lose one of them (potentially).

But who knows, you could find a vendor that hasn't even found a property to move into yet and would appreciate the extra time. But October is still 5 months away...

Arthur_Sleep

Thanks.

I should have said that we should have the 10% deposit that we'd need to exchange; the rest of the money we're waiting for will get us the 25% deposit we want.

I kind of thought that, as FTBs who can definitely complete in October, we're a more attractive proposition to sellers than someone who is in a chain.

bluedrop

Motivated seller and motivated buyer - no chain - it still took us 2months to exchange.

pinkteapot

When I sold, we went from offer to completion in five weeks.

That's not normal though.

kingstreet

Viewing now is fine. As long as you explain the situation to a potential vendor/agent at offer stage and give them a chance to decline due to your extended time to completion, I can't see a problem.

Sycorax

I was in a very similar situation to you, I had the 'retainer' avialable for handing over at exchange, but my other funds for the mortage deposit where tied up. As I wasn't in a chain the vendor was prepared to wait a few months for completion.
I instructed my solicitor straight away and gave the timescales we were working within and the vendors where happy that I was a serious buyer. To be fair it can take a while for all the searches etc to be done, so ultimately there wasn't a lot of time difference between the 'normal' process and our slightly delayed one.

grifferz

As FTBs we started looking in December. We have savings that mature in July where the interest is worth around £1,500 - they are instant access but the interest will be lost if withdrawn before July.

We started looking anyway because we're sick and tired of renting and if we found the right place instantly then we were willing to give up that £1,500 to complete ASAP.

We had an offer accepted in April, but things are going so slowly that it may actually happen that we get our interest before we complete.

If we didn't have access to money at all and so would have been unable to complete then we wouldn't have bothered starting looking so early, so if you do have access to it then maybe you should start looking as soon as feasible? Things can take longer than you think.

As long as you are honest about your proceedability then that is fair. Just realise that if you aren't proceedable then you will be taken less seriously as a buyer.

ValHaller

Arthur_Sleep wrote: »

A large part of our deposit is in an account that doesn't mature until the middle of October, so we can't access it until then.

Is it truly locked away or can you take it out with a penalty?

A penalty might be galling in relation to the account but money well spent in relation to buying the house you want if you come across it.

Ivana_Tinkle

You'd be a much more attractive prospect as a buyer if you waited until you had the deposit in hand, which, if you play your cards right, could allow you to agree a better price.

Most of the advantage in being a FTB is that you (in theory) can move quickly - you're giving away that advantage if you can't complete for 5 months.